The heart of a soldier
by Lady-Winter-Belle
Summary: Troy Bolton is a US Marine. He has no family, and when him and best friend Monty (Andre Montez) nearly get killed, Monty takes Troy back to his hometown to see his family. Troy's attention is soon turned to his sister, Gabriella. Will she have what it takes to steal the soldier's heart?


**I do not own any of the characters, High School Musical or Disney. This storyline was partly inspired by The Lucky One. Please R&R! :)**

My name is Troy Bolton. A US Marine on my 2nd tour of duty in Afghanistan. I have 2 months left before it is time to go home to my second life.

At home, I don't have much, my dad walked out when I was 12 and my mom is an alcoholic. Being a marine means I can feel good about myself, do something which will save peoples live- not to mention making memories I will be sure to tell my grandchildren.

In my time here, I have met some great people. Men who I have fought alongside and men who I have watched fall. Men who will have me as their last memory and men who will have me as their first. One of the men of me been there first is my best friend Monty. His real name is Andre Montez but we use nick names because we are like brothers.

'What's up Bolton!' Monty says as he walks up to me. We had just come back from a morning raid and we were all resting up at our base.

'Hey Monty' I said as I sat up so we could do our manly hug. He passed me over a beer as we sat and chilled in the sun.

'I can't wait to go home' Monty said to me as he put his feet up on the table.

'I know me too, not that I have anything to go back too' Monty smiled at me sympathetically.

'Dude you can always come to my place, my family all want to meet you, especially my little brother. He loves basketball and when I told him you used to play, he was like dude I need to meet him!' He said laughing at the memories.

I wish I had a family like that. A family who I could share memories with. A family who I can laugh around with and show my friends off too.

'Yeah I'd love to come meet your family' I said smiling.

'Bolton, Montez. Up on your feet, we have a night raid to prepare for. Ammunition needs to be restored and guns need to be cleaned. Be ready to head out at exactly two hundred hours (20:00)' Commando Barnes said marching up to us.

We both jumped up and put our body armour on. By 8 o'clock we were ready to go. We heard distant gun shots go over our head so we knew they were aiming them at us. Heading out of base in to the open war zone, we didn't know what our fate would be. No one knew who would make it back alive, nut it was something you just had to wish for the best with. Heading out, Monty and I stayed close. No matter what happened we would always be there to watch each other's back.

'Bolton, Monty, you take the compound on the right, me and Zane will go to the left' the commando forcefully whispered to us. Because he and I were so close, we could be trusted to go off on our own.

We headed off to the deserted compound. In the deadly silence of the night, I heard something. Like the ticking of a watch. It was faint but I knew exactly what I heard.

'Monty….Monty' I said, whispering rather loudly. He stopped and turned around.

'What is it…' He gave me a questionable look. Well it was dark and I couldn't really see but I knew him well enough to know the face he will pull.

'I can hear ticking…' And that's when I saw it, millimetres from Monty's foot, was a bit of unsettled earth.

'Monty don't move..' I said but he stepped right on it as he lost his balance.

'MONTY NO!' I screamed as I dived for him, knocking him to the ground. The sound of an explosion bellowing through my ears and the dust and debris blocking my vision.

'Monty! Monty!' I screamed, crawling to his side. My leg was in immense pain but I didn't care. I could not lose my brother. I could not lose him. No way.

I instantly saw his lifeless body lying face down in the debris. I turned him over checking for a pulse. No pulse. I instantly began CPR. I learned from the first aid course that you had to do the rhythm of the chest pulses to Dancing Queen.

'You are the dancing queen, young and sweet only seventeen…' I began singing out loud as I began CPR. Two minutes passed and all of a sudden Monty opened his eyes. I smiled and let out a sigh of relief.

'Dude… were you singing dancing queen' he said slightly laughing.

'I thought you had left me there brother' I said getting emotional. I looked at his leg and noticed a huge wound. I instantly took the medical kit from my bag and bandaged it up to stop it from bleeding anymore.

I dragged him off to where the rest of the troops were and waited for the Chinook to take us to the base camp to receive medical attention.

All the time I was holding Monty's hand. I could tell he was scared and he needed reassurance. I was the only he had to keep him strong. When the helicopter arrived we were bundled into the back. Monty was laid on the stretcher and I was sat beside him. As the helicopter took of I looked at him and smiled.

'Thank you for saving me Bolton. I owe you big time.' He said smirking. The strong pain killers had obviously gone to his head.

'I love you brother'

'I love you too Bolton'

And off we were to base camp to receive medical attention. Maybe our time to go home had come two months early.

All I knew was that when I went home, I had no one to go to, and with a broken leg, I need someone to take care of me.

**Hope you enjoyed the first chapter, let me know what you think by reviewing! thanks :) xx**


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